Eastern Oregon University's graduating class of 2023 listens to the keynote address delivered by Teaching Excellence Award recipient Peter Wordelman during the commencement ceremony on June 17, 2023, at Community Stadium in La Grande. 

LA GRANDE — At least 375 Eastern Oregon University students are preparing to make one of the most memorable walks of their lives at Community Stadium on Saturday, June 15.

Community Stadium will be the site of Eastern’s 94th commencement. The ceremony will start at 9:30 a.m. Between 375 and 400 students are expected to attend the ceremony and make the walk across EOU’s commencement stage to receive their diplomas. The students are among 450 scheduled to graduate this spring term, according to Tim Seydel, EOU’s vice president for university advancement.

In addition, students graduating from programs operating at Eastern’s campus, including the Oregon Health & Science School of Nursing and the Agriculture and Natural Resource Program, a cooperative degree program between Eastern and Oregon State University, will receive their diplomas at the ceremony.

The commencement speaker will be Chad Mueller, an assistant professor of agricultural entrepreneurship at Eastern. Mueller recently was named the recipient of the 2024 EOU Teacher Excellence Award.

Mueller, who grew up in Nebraska, has taught at Eastern for about four years. Mueller has a bachelor of science degree in animal sciences from Oklahoma State University and a master of science and a doctorate in animal sciences from South Dakota State University.

Faris Ceranic, the recipient of this year’s President’s Scholar Award, will also speak. This award is reserved for a student from the graduating class who exemplifies academic excellence, leadership and community engagement, according to an EOU press release.

Ceranic, an economics major with minors in business administration and communications, has a cumulative grade point average of 3.88 and has been on the Dean’s list since his transfer to EOU from the College of the Desert in Southern California. He has been nominated by faculty members for the 2024 Economics Student of the Year award.

Ceranic, whose family is from Bosnia, will later attend the William S. Boyd School of Law at the University of Nevada Las Vegas.

At Eastern, Ceranic has been an active member of the campus community. He served as a justice for the EOU’s student government, where he worked to ensure student voices were heard. His leadership extended to the athletic field as a member of the EOU men’s soccer team and the EOU Athlete Student Association, where he contributed to mental health projects and sports event planning.

Ceranic will focus on his classmates during his address.

“My speech will be about the students,” he said. “It will be about all of the great things the class of 2024 has accomplished.”

People who cannot attend EOU’s commencement can watch the livestream on EOU’s website, www.eou.edu.